BirdLife: The Magazine September 2017 - Page 10

IRREPLACEABLE
Lake Dukan
Kurdistan, Iraq
Lake Dukan
Photo Public Domain
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In recent times, both Iraq’s identity and its landscape have
been scarred by war. But there’s another side to this vast Mid-
dle Eastern country that news reports from conflict zones
don’t show: its stunning natural environments. From the
world famous Mesopotamian Marshes — dubbed the “Cra-
dle of Civilisation” — to mountain peaks; from woodlands to
wetlands and from deserts to rivers, Iraq boasts many pock-
ets of calm and greenery that seem a world away from popu-
lar media depictions of tanks and gunfire. However, many of
the country’s most important areas for nature lack any form
of formal protection or recognition, and without such, they
risk slowly slipping into ruin. One such area currently facing
intense pressure is Lake Dukan, a man-made reservoir, and
now the largest lake in Iraqi Kurdistan. However, the crea-
tion of this dammed lake has not had positive impacts on this
Important Bird & Biodiversity Area (IBA). The area is consid-
ered an IBA primarily because of the steppe and the riverbed
that lies to the north of the IBA; the construction of the dam in
the 1950s has unforeseen impacts on the wildlife living in the
area. As an example, the Euphrates softshell turtle, an Endan-
gered species, now suffers from a skewed sex ratio, due to a
change in the average temperature of the area’s rivers.
BIRDLIFE • SEPTEMBER 2017
Nonetheless, Lake Dukan remains an important wintering
site for numerous species of globally threatened water-
birds, including Common Pochard Aythya ferina and Lesser
White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus. Equally, the hills
and crags surrounding the lake support important numbers
of Endangered raptors, including Saker Falcon Falco cher-
rug, Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis and Egyptian Vulture
Neophron percnopterus.
According to Korsh Ararat, an ornithologist who works for
Nature Iraq (BirdLife Partner), one of the biggest threats
facing the wildlife that depends on Lake Dukan and the sur-
round area is overhunting. “Since people have fast and easy
access to the area, and they come with jet skis and guns,
they hunt everything they can see”, says Ararat.
At the same time, the valleys and oak woodlands located
within this IBA are gradually being chipped away, as they are
urbanised and converted into gravel mines and agricultural
land — the latter also having the unfortunate side-effect of
introducing rodenticides and pesticides into the ecosystem.
And significantly, the construction of a further dam on one
of the lake’s main tributaries, across the border in Iran,
threatens to deplete not only Lake Dukan’s water levels, but
SEPTEMBER 2017 • BIRDLIFE
also those of marshland IBAs throughout Iraq. “If this hap-
pens, it will become easier not only for predators such as
jackals and foxes to prey on the area’s waterbirds, but hunt-
ers, too”, says Ararat.
It is hoped that a new publication from Nature Iraq, Key
Biodiversity Areas of Iraq, will be an important first step in
spearheading a national protected area network, and building
a sustainable future for Iraq’s nature. Undertaken against the
background of ongoing conflict, Key Biodiversity Areas of Iraq
is a culmination of over a decade’s work from Nature Iraq with
support by the Iraqi Government, which maps and identifies
82 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) within the country — the jew-
els in the crown of this surprisingly wildlife-rich country.
The surveys, mostly undertaken from 2005 to 2011, covered
both summer and winter, and many sites were visited multi-
ple times to ensure they were as thorough as possible. The
result is an invaluable inventory of the country’s most impor-
tant sites for biodiversity — and the threats they face.
0 Saker Falcon Falco cherrug
Photo Michal Ninger/Shutterstock
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